Kudankulam Nuclear Plant Goes Critical after Decade of Delays

JOHANNESBURG--July 16, 2013--Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--India's 2,000-megawatt (MW), $2.9 billion Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) began construction in 2001, but has faced delays due to Russian component supply problems and heated disputes among local farming and fishing lobbies. The plant has started generating heat and steam from 163 uranium fuel bundles loaded into the reactor.